The Pittsburgh Football Podcast

Chris Gates | The Pittsburgh Football Podcast

One of Pitt’s biggest questions entering the 2026 season might suddenly be turning into one of its biggest strengths.

And the most encouraging part is that it’s happening without the player we expected to lead the way.

Ja’Kyrian Turner has barely played this season. After receiving only 10 carries in the opener against Miami (Ohio), Turner missed Pitt’s games against UCF and Syracuse.

That could have been a significant problem.

Instead, freshman Damon Ferguson has emerged.

And after watching Ferguson, La’Vell Wright and Pitt’s offensive line dismantle Syracuse on the ground Thursday night, I’m starting to wonder if running back might be one of the deepest positions on this team.

Ferguson was outstanding in Pitt’s 27-13 win.

• He carried the football 10 times for 102 yards and a touchdown, averaging an absurd 10.2 yards per carry.
• Wright added 81 yards on 14 attempts.
• Mason Heintschel contributed another 41 yards and a touchdown with his legs.

As a team, Pitt averaged 6.6 yards per carry, scored three rushing touchdowns and finished just shy of 250 yards on the ground.

On a night when almost nothing was working through the air, Pitt found another way to win.

That might be the most important development to come out of the Syracuse game.

Damon Ferguson Has Taken Advantage of His Opportunity

It’s easy to forget how young Ferguson is when you watch him run.

He doesn’t look tentative.

He doesn’t look like a freshman trying to figure things out.

He runs hard. He hits the hole with conviction. He has enough speed to turn an opening into a big play, and we’ve already seen him create yardage when everything isn’t perfectly blocked.

Most importantly, he looks fearless.

That’s what has stood out to me most through the early portion of the season.

Pitt didn’t enter the year expecting to immediately need this much from Ferguson. Turner appeared positioned to be the primary back after emerging during the second half of last season.

Instead, Turner has barely been available.

That’s forced Pitt to dig deeper into the running back room much earlier than anticipated.

Ferguson has responded.

Thursday night was his biggest performance yet.

• 10 carries.
• 102 yards.
• One touchdown.

That’s more than simply filling in for an injured teammate.

That’s a player making a legitimate case for continued touches regardless of what happens when Turner returns.

And that’s a very good problem for Pitt to have.

Pitt Suddenly Has Options at Running Back

Turner’s eventual return could make this backfield extremely interesting.

Because Ferguson isn’t the only player producing.

La’Vell Wright has provided Pitt with a veteran presence in the backfield and was excellent against Syracuse, rushing for 81 yards on 14 carries. On the year, he’s piled up 146 rushing yards, one touchdown, and is averaging 4.5 yards per day.

Ferguson gives Pitt explosiveness. And on the season, he’s totaled up 190 yards, 2 touchdowns, and is averaging 5.1 yards per carry.

Against Syracuse, Pitt didn’t need to ride either player into the ground to produce nearly 250 rushing yards as a team.

Now imagine adding a healthy Turner back into that rotation.

That’s where the conversation changes.

Instead of wondering whether Pitt can survive without its projected top running back, we can start asking how Kade Bell divides the opportunities once everyone is available.

Turner showed last season what he can bring to the offense. Wright has demonstrated that he can handle meaningful carries. And now Ferguson is forcing his way into the conversation.

That’s legitimate depth.

It’s also the type of depth that becomes increasingly valuable as a season progresses.

Running backs take punishment. Players get banged up. There are going to be weeks when somebody isn’t available or isn’t operating at 100 percent.

Pitt has already been forced to test its depth.

So far, the Panthers have passed that test.

The Offensive Line Deserves Plenty of Credit

Of course, none of this happens without the guys up front.

And that’s another reason Thursday night’s performance was so encouraging.

The offensive line was one of Pitt’s biggest question marks entering the season.

Three games later, I think that group deserves considerably more credit than it’s getting.

From my seats above the student section at Acrisure Stadium, I essentially get an All-22 view of the field. Against Syracuse, the running lanes were obvious.

They were there all night.

Ferguson and Wright ran hard and made plays, but they weren’t repeatedly being asked to manufacture something out of nothing. Pitt’s offensive line was creating space at the line of scrimmage and giving its backs opportunities to get downhill.

Then the running backs did their part.

That’s how an effective running game is supposed to work.

The UCF game made the evaluation more difficult. Pitt didn’t run particularly well, but almost everything about that game was distorted by the weather.

Players were soaked. The field conditions affected footing. Vision, acceleration and cutting all became more difficult.

So I wanted to see what Pitt’s rushing attack looked like once it got back into normal conditions.

Syracuse gave us the answer.

• Nearly 250 rushing yards.
• Three touchdowns.
• 6.6 yards per carry.

That’s not simply surviving on the ground.

That’s controlling a football game.

This Could Change Kade Bell’s Entire Offense

The significance goes beyond Ferguson, Wright or the offensive line.

A legitimate running game could make Pitt’s entire offense better.

The passing attack struggled badly against Syracuse. Heintschel completed only 10 of 23 passes for 123 yards and an interception, and Pitt had difficulty consistently generating anything through the air.

Syracuse appeared comfortable dropping defenders into coverage and making Heintschel work through crowded passing lanes.

Last season, that was a major problem for Pitt.

If defenses were determined to take away the passing game, the Panthers weren’t always capable of consistently punishing them on the ground.

That needs to change.

And Thursday night provided some evidence that it might.

If an opponent wants to drop additional defenders into coverage, Pitt needs to be able to hand the football to Ferguson, Wright or Turner and make that defense pay for it.

If Pitt starts consistently gashing teams on the ground, defenses eventually have to react.

• Safeties creep forward.
• Linebackers become more conscious of the run.
• Defenses have to devote more resources to what’s happening around the line of scrimmage.

And suddenly, some of those passing windows can begin opening again.

That’s what makes a balanced offense so difficult to defend.

Kade Bell wants to throw the football. That’s not going to change, nor should it.

But there’s a big difference between wanting to throw the football and needing to throw it because you don’t have another reliable way to move the ball.

Against Syracuse, Pitt didn’t need to throw.

The passing game wasn’t working, so the Panthers ran the football.

And Syracuse couldn’t stop it.

Ferguson Has Changed the Conversation

That’s why Ferguson’s emergence is so significant.

Pitt entered this season expecting Turner to be an important piece of the offense.

Three games into the year, we’ve barely seen him.

And yet I’m not particularly worried about Pitt’s running back situation.

That’s a testament to what Ferguson has done.

It’s also a testament to Wright, and it’s a testament to an offensive line that appears to be taking meaningful steps forward.

There will be tougher tests ahead.

One dominant rushing performance doesn’t mean Pitt has suddenly solved everything offensively. The Panthers still need to show they can consistently run the football against the better defensive fronts they’ll encounter in ACC play.

But we can only evaluate what we’ve seen so far.

And what we saw against Syracuse was incredibly encouraging.

Pitt’s projected top running back didn’t play.

Its passing game struggled.

And the Panthers still ran for nearly 250 yards and won by two touchdowns.

Now, Turner eventually will be added back into the equation.

If Ferguson continues to develop, Wright continues to produce and Turner returns healthy, Pitt could have three running backs it feels comfortable putting on the field in meaningful situations.

And if the offensive line continues creating the type of running lanes we saw against Syracuse, that depth becomes even more valuable.

For an offense currently trying to work through some issues in the passing game, the timing couldn’t be much better.

Damon Ferguson was supposed to provide depth this season.

Three games in, he looks capable of providing a whole lot more.